Faris Nasrallah
Head of Arbitration at Crescent Petroleum

Biography

Faris specialises in international arbitration focusing on energy, commercial and construction arbitrations with specialist knowledge of UAE laws. He has worked for leading international law firms in London and Dubai and is currently Head of Arbitration at Crescent Petroleum. He serves as an arbitrator and has experience as a UAE law expert before international courts and tribunals. Faris assisted in drafting the DIAC Rules 2022 and is an author of a Guide to the DIAC Rules (Oxford University Press). He served on the TIAC Court of Arbitration from 2022 to 2025. Between 2018 and 2021, Faris led a Max Planck Institute doctoral research project on the relationship between theory and practice in international arbitration for which he was awarded a PhD (Summa Cum Laude). He is a Solicitor of the Senior Courts of England & Wales and was educated at SOAS and the University of Cambridge.

Representative Engagements

Arbitration Counsel 

• Representing claimants in parallel multibillion-dollar commercial arbitrations arising out of a national oil company’s failure to supply gas under a long-term contract and involving upstream supply chains, gas market creation, pricing and sanctions issues

• Advising a claimant on an investor-state coastal development dispute against a Gulf state under the OIC Agreement and UNCITRAL Rules

• Representing a global inter-governmental organization in a contract dispute concerning the provision of technology equipment (Ad hoc arbitration in London)

• Representing a claimant in a London seated LCIA arbitration over the purchase of ethereum tokens for the exchange of data via blockchain technology online services under the DIFC-LCIA Rules

• Representing a UAE telecommunications company in a dispute over the provision of

• Representing a private company concerning a contract dispute over the provision of security services under the DIAC Rules

• Representing a UAE developer in a dispute with a sub-developer regarding the failure to perform obligations in accordance with a contract valued at over $6 billion

• Representing a UAE based contractor in a dispute with an employer concerning the termination of a contract for construction of a mixed-use development  

• Representing a UAE based contractor in a dispute with an employer concerning the termination of a contract for the construction of a major commercial tower

Representing an individual claimant in a dispute with a regional real estate developer

• Representing a firm of New York architects in a contractor dispute over design/construction of an educational facility under the ADCCAC Rules

Recent Arbitrator & Expert Appointments

• Served as a Sole Arbitrator, Co-Arbitrator and President in complex, high value and multi-party disputes involving oil trading and supply, construction, commodities, distribution and agency, joint venture and other industry disputes, both ad hoc and institutional under the UNCITRAL, DIAC, AIAC and other rules, and under various applicable laws including England & Wales, UAE, Jordan, and Germany

• Independent expert on UAE law in ICSID Case No. ARB/19/10

• Independent expert on UAE law in English commercial court proceedings concerning the sale and purchase of islands as part of The World project in Dubai, UAE

Litigation and ADR

• Lead legal representative prosecuting a series of frauds, money laundering and other financial crimes under UAE criminal law in Sharjah, arising out of one of the largest frauds in the history of the Middle East

• Representing claimants and managing a global enforcement campaign for a multi-billion-dollar arbitral award spanning 15 jurisdictions

• Lead counsel in obtaining a UAE criminal conviction in one of the largest financial crimes in the history of the Middle East

• Representing an individual claimant in Cayman Court proceedings arising out civil fraud and deceit claims valued at $350 million

• Representing a client in multi-jurisdictional court proceedings involving satellite debt-recovery in The Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany including participation in foreign proceedings

• Representing local and international clients in UAE court proceedings for the enforcement of local and international arbitral awards

• Advising on and managing various criminal proceedings for local and international clients in the UAE

• Representing multiple subsidiaries of a large multinational organization in UAE court proceedings involving fraud allegations and commercial negligence concerning amounts in excess of $300 million

• Acting for a UAE based construction and contracting company in an Abu Dhabi Court dispute

• Acting for an oil company in pre-action dispute management concerning an overseas energy terminal

• Advising a UAE based construction company on potential claims arising from a joint venture agreement

• Advising on and drafting dispute resolution provisions and arbitration clauses for an international oil company operating in Central Asia

Education and Honours

• LL.B. (First Class), SOAS, University of London (2007)
• LL.M., University of Cambridge (2008)
• LPC, Kaplan Law School, London (2009)
• PhD (Summa Cum Laude), Martin Luther University of Halle- Wittenberg (2025)

Courts Admissions and Affiliations

• Solicitor of the Senior Courts of England & Wales (2012– present)
• General Editor, Yearbook of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law (YIMEL) (2008 – 2021)
• Teaching Fellow, SOAS, School of Law (2008–2010)
• Lecturer, BSBI, Berlin (2019-2020)
• Lecturer, International Arbitration, Martin Luther University, Germany (2020- 2021)
• Panel Arbitrator: LCIA, DIAC, HKIAC, RAC, AIAC, ADIAC, Tahkeem,

Languages

• English
• Arabic